Just a heads up on a new helmet that will be hitting the streets here shortly. I've been wearing BoneHead's latest helmet, the REvolve and am quite pleased with it. The Revolve is an evolution of the HAVOC and a few new ideas.

So you're thinking that this is just another full face helmet, what can be different right? Well for starters this IS and IS NOT a full face helmet. Meaning you have the option of being able to remove the face shield from this helmet and use it like any other open face helmet, it is 2 helmets in one. Simply remove the 2 cotter pins on the hinges inside the helmet and the ladder strap screw and you have an open face helmet. Another great feature is that unlike other full face helmets, there is an unobstructed view of your mouth and a wider peripheral view. What this means is that you can talk to others and they can see your lips. This comes in really handy when coaching in the tunnel or simply talking to someone else in the door. I don't have a face shield with anti-fog treatment on it as it's a prototype but unless you are a prolific mouth breather, as in hyperventilating, fogging isn't an issue as I have had none while using the helmet.The wider peripheral vision of the cut of the face shield gives you a field of view that makes you forget that your wearing a helmet.

So how does it fit? Well like all BoneHead helmets, it can be custom padded by you and baked to fit your head. Because this helmet is supposed to leave your mouth exposed, you have to pad it properly to fit your head, otherwise it will slide on your head and cover your bottom lip. After a few minutes of tinkering, I had the padding set up inside the helmet so that it fit me snugly and didn't shift on my head. This is actually pretty important as an improperly padded helmet will move around on your head.

So how does it work? To open the face shield, there is a detent on the ladder strap that you must push down to allow the face shield to rotate up. This takes a good deal of pressure and a bit of learning to find the detent on the first go around. The detent is also very stiff when new so you have to use it before it becomes easier to manipulate. The production models may/might have a different detent configuration than that seen in the pictures as what you see is a prototype. What this means is that there is absolutely no way your face shield is going to accidentally fly open or that a blow to the head on exit could dislodge it. To close it, just pull it down and it locks in place automatically.The helmet has a typical under chin strap but with a properly fitted and padded helmet it is next to impossible to remove the helmet when the face shield is in the down position. The other nice thing about the helmet is that it gives you full cranial coverage on the back of your head. Most full face helmets lack any shell coverage at the base of your skull due to the cord cinch systems they typically use to hold the helmet on your head. Of course it has the usual audible pockets/slots inside the helmet.

How does it fly? I've been using the REvolve for just under 20 hours now in the wind tunnel doing both RW (belly) and FFing in every imaginable orientation. The wide field of view really does make it feel like I don't have a helmet on. The exposed mouth has helped me communicate better with others in the tunnel when conveying instructions along with hand and arm signals. In fact, I have been using less hand and arm signals and have simply been talking. For back flying, sit flying, head down, etc, it works wonderfully, no wind creeps into the shell through the top of the shield edge like it does on some full face helmets. The helmet weighs no more than a typical full face helmet, although I haven't actually weighed it.

If you want a open face and a full face helmet but don't want to buy 2 separate helmets or you don't want to carry 2 different helmets in your luggage, this might be the ideal helmet for you.

I also want to point out that this helmet is available in three different shell sizes for those of you with really large heads and is able to accommodate glasses. We've added a mounting surface for ContourHD on the left side as well.

How is the ladder strap secured? From the photos it looks like it's just the one bolt at the back, so I'm assuming that it's just floating in the channel over the top. Does this mean that flexing in the ladder strap can allow the visor to rattle up and down, or is there perhaps tension in the hinges to limit this? Maybe it would be easier if I could see one but at the moment I'm imagining that a force applied to the visor from beneath the chin would lift the visor and flex the ladder strap on top by some amount.

Are they already released, or if not, when are they expected to be released into production?

How is the visor replaced? I haven't looked at how the havoc works, but I'm assuming that there are just some screws and/or clips in the helmet body to allow replacement of the clear plastic visor.

I wanted to ask a question...I know my question isn't about the new helmet...(which looks very cool by the way...) but I forgot to bake my liner...how much of a change will I notice if I decide to bake it regarding the fit...(which in my opinion is already very nice)

Brettski - There's a screw in the front that you can't see when closed. This is the main screw which carries the load during a chin strike. The screw on top actually just serves as a pin which secures the aft part of the ladder strap. This only carries a small load from pulling the visor down and it also allows you to remove the visor without any tools. To remove the visor, you just pull back the top liner and pop the ladder strap off the pin from inside then remove two cutter pins.

The point of the overkill ladder strap is to hold front half of the helmet on. A small pin like used on the Mamba would work but with the Mamba it only needs to hold a light frame down. We made that improvement on the REvolve because it needs to hold the whole front portion on during a hit.

It'll be released and on our website for sale next week.

The anti-fog lens can be easily replaced, it's held down by two screws.

Amazon - Rattling in the Havok was due mainly to design. There's only one way to find out how well the REvolve handles 300++! I'll PM you.

BIRDDOCTOR - I'll post some pictures of it without the visor as soon as I have 'em.

Regulator - Are you having any issues with the fit? If it fits well the baking isn't necessary. I never baked the liner in my Mamba and the fit is perfect.

I don't have any pictures of a colored REvolve but our colors can be viewed on our website. They're the same colors that we use for our other helmets, so if you've seen any Bonehead in yellow or navy blue that's pretty much how it will look.